Young Writers Society

She sighed tiredly into the dark, "We can't leave him, Julian."
This time she felt his frustration before he voiced it out loud, "Why is it always the same argument with you? First, we couldn't leave because of Mom! Now, we can't leave because of him? Why? Why would you even want to live with him? Why would you even make us go through this??"
She didn't stop the tear that rolled past her eyes this time, "Because he is our father, Julian."
He let out a bitter laugh. It sounded cold and hollow and it sent a reflexive shiver down her spine.
"You know, the last time we were at the beach and I suggested running away, you said we can't because she is our mother and we can't leave her behind. And now you are telling me we can't leave, because he is our father? But when have they ever been parents to us Sara? When have they been anything but two twisted people stuck in a twisted relationship who destroyed each other in the name of love?"

He looked at her confused. "Why would you want to distract me?"
She looked calm and more certain now that she had already made the initial admission. However, her perfect composure was now getting to Will who was still struggling to understand.
"Because I didn't want you to be there." She said this while directly looking into his eyes, and Will pretended her words did not land as a perfectly aimed punch to his gut, swift and strong.
"Why not? You had no problem asking Daniel." He hoped the bitterness was not as evident in his words as it was inside him.
"I needed Daniel," she said hesitantly and he caught the words she did not say out loud, I didn't need you. "Besides," she went on, perfectly calm, "They need you down at the beach. I knew your presence here was more important and-"
"Please don't decide my life for me, Sara," Will said tiredly, and she looked up at him at the sudden drop of emotion in his voice. "All my life, I have allowed other people to tell me what I should or shouldn't do, and I just don't need that anymore, okay?"
She nodded silently and he felt a sadistic pleasure at the sudden flash of guilt in her face.
"I am sorry."
And once again, Will was angry. For some inexplicable reason, those two words spoken so softly in the silence of the tent made his chest tighten, made him look at her and stop to stare at the emotion in her eyes. He could not label them, and he did not want to. Frustration returned to him once again as he realized she was denying him the right to be angry with just a harmless expression on her face that was not even directed at him. In that moment, he thought she was the most dangerous person on the island.

"Well, what happened then?" she asked, impatient to move on from that small detail in the story.
He tilted his head as if it took him a lot of trouble to remember an event that happened an hour or two ago. "Well, let's see. After that, Will came and did his thing. You know the boring stuff? Healing wounds and tying bandages and all that. And then I was given the joyful task of carrying you to the tent." He finished with a grin and a spark in his blue eyes and she felt her cheeks heat on their own accord. Apparently, it did not escape his notice either.
"Why! Are you blushing Giggles? Well, let me tell you I only had noble intentions. I did not even cop a feel - that's how much of a gentleman I am!"
She rolled her eyes, and hoped the red in her cheeks would fade quickly so that she could convey her irritation to him as well. "Yeah, you are a gentleman alright!"
His eyes widened in mock disbelief, "I am! Besides I am not the one who wouldn't let go of my shirt for an inappropriately long amount of time."
Well, the details just kept on coming.
"It was a moment of weakness," she said quietly, but her glare conveyed the message that they were done discussing this.
He grinned in response, "Sure was."

"Does it make it any easier?"
And just like that, the mirage of his calm was broken. Will looked around to find Daniel leaning against a tree, a coconut tucked into the space between his arms.
"Closing your eyes," he clarified at his confused expression, "Does it make easier to pretend?"
Will let out a bitter laugh at that. It was too early in the morning for questions like that.
"You tell me."
Daniel smiled. Exhaustion was still etched deep into his expression, but he looked better than last night.
"Its barely dawn yet. What are you doing here?"
He said it simply, but Will could feel the carefully concealed concern behind his words.
He shrugged, "Woke up early and needed some fresh air."
Daniel nodded as if that was a perfectly reasonable explanation to traverse through the jungle alone in the near dark of dawn. "So what's the plan for today?"
"You tell me. You are the one who got held on gunpoint while trying to explain to a deranged woman that the last sixteen years of her life has been a sham."
A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "That was mostly Sara."
"Of course, it was."

"Why are you lying to me?"
Her question framed so similarly as Will's should have made him clamp down at once. And yet to her surprise, he did not deny it. "I am sorry? Are you my wife? I can lie to you whenever I want."
If only she had remembered to say the same to Will when he had asked her. Somehow she knew that he would not give up as easily. "You really are not going to tell me?"
He shrugged with a grin, "I am not."
She looked at him annoyed and he looked right back. In that moment, she very much wanted to hit him again, but she knew she wouldn't. She wouldn't hit him or prod him or do anything that would upset this delicate balance they had somehow managed to create; this unnamed relationship that allowed them both to sit after dark in a tent and talk and argue about inconsequential matters. It was an odd form of comradeship between them and sometimes she thought she needed him just as much as he needed her.

"You are really great at that, you know? Escaping every time you feel the tables can be turned around against you."
"I-"
"And since we are talking about trust issues, let's get into yours, shall we?" he said, taking a step forward, "You don't trust me or Daniel or anyone on this beach. You share with us what you think we should know and the rest you just store away for your own convenience. You lie left and right, Sara! You lie for whatever stupid reason you think you need to and we believe you every time because what other option do we have? And for Christ's sake, Sara! All of us have literally put our lives in your hands and you don't even trust us enough to sleep in the same beach as us!"

"Don't make a habit of this," he said solemnly.
She tilted her head in confusion. "What?"
He looked directly into her eyes and suddenly she felt unnerved by his presence again, even though there was more than a respectful distance between them now.
"Don't just stand there and take someone's shit because you feel that person deserves a break and you should be the one to give it to him."
She shook her head, clearing her throat to speak words she had not formed yet. "I don't-"
"Daniel told me what happened back in the jungle...how he took his frustration out on you."
She broke free from his grip, her heart suddenly feeling too heavy in her chest. "That was different. You said nothing wrong."
"Even if I didn't, just don't do that okay?"
Suddenly she could not stand this. The look in his eyes in that moment carried more accusation than his previous hurtful words and she realized it stung deeper than any other lie he might have grilled her for.
"I can take care of myself, Will," she said quietly, bitterly.
"Oh, I know you can," he replied with such a knowing certainty that she felt her heart relax itself in its cage, "I am just saying that you don't owe anything to us either. You don't have to stand tall and take the hits because you believe you can handle worse. That's no reason to be so cruel to yourself."

This time she looked at him angrily, accusingly, "God will you just let me have the last word this time!"
The hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth. It almost made up for the headache he had brought upon her through this conversation. Almost.
"Is that so important to you?"
"It is!" She was on the verge of stomping her feet into the ground now and she had an inkling that it would not be the most attractive or reasonable thing to do in that moment.
He did a very poor job in concealing the amusement in his voice, "Alright then."
"Okay."
She glared up at him, challenging him to cross her words but he seemed to get the silent threat as he respectfully backed down with a soft smile.
She watched as it turned to a full fledged genuine grin and after a moment, she forgot to be angry as well.